CIA agent Raymond Davis acquitted of Pakistan double murders (UPDATES)
Pakistani Islamists shout slogans in protest over the case of CIA contractor Raymond Davis in Lahore on March 11, 2011.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A CIA agent was Wednesday acquitted of shooting two Pakistanis after paying more than $2 million in “blood money” to the victim’s relatives, officials said.
“Raymond Davis has been released after all 18 family members of the deceased appeared before the court today and confirmed that they have received de’yat [blood money], and forgiven him." Regional law minister Rana Sanaullah told GlobalPost.
Davis was alleged to have gunned down two motorcyclists on a busy street in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in January.
He claimed the men tried to rob him and he acted in self-defense, but police said both men had bullet wounds in their backs, indicating the shooting was unjustified.
The case stirred anger in Pakistan after the United States claimed that the 36-year-old former Green Beret was a diplomat and therefore immune from prosecution.
Government sources said Davis' release was arranged after $2.3 million dollars was paid to families of the deceased, however, prosecution lawyer Asad Manzoor Butt claimed officials had forced his clients into signing papers confirming they had received the blood money.
The sources claimed that the families have also been provided with U.S. passport as part of a deal to free Davis because of fears they would face public anger over accepting the "blood money."
The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied that the United States paid any money, Reuters reported.
U.S. embassy and Pakistani government sources confirmed Davis left Pakistan at about 5 pm local time on a U.S.Air Force plane to Washington.
The Davis case has strained relations between the United States and Pakistan, a key ally in the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.
Possibly fearing public outrage, the Pakistani government had repeatedly deferred making a decision over immunity and only formally indicted him with murder before Wednesday’s court hearing began.
— Barry Neild in London also contributed to this story
Last month, GlobalPost correspondent Suzanna Koster talked with the families of the victims in the shooting:
